Interglide 2010 Results and Report

22010 was again blessed with fabulous weather. Sunny days and temperatures up in the 30’s. Friday was practice day, pilots arrived at the field and those staying overnight set up their camping and enjoyed some very nice flying conditions with abundant thermals.

On Saturday the contest started around 9.30am with nearly all pilots making 10 mins, after the first slot conditions became very testing with good thermals and strong sink in between them. Lots of pilots were caught out and many had re-launches throughout the day. We managed to complete 5 rounds before packing up and getting ready for the now famous Sat Night BBQ! We were not disappointed as the food cooked by Jim Write and his wife Norma was fantastic. A combination of this and the great weather many stayed outside chatting until late that night. Jim is currently Chairman of the Ivinghoe Soaring Association who helped organise the event.

Sunday came and the temperature steadily rose to 30 degrees with hardly any cloud. Rounds 6 and 7 were quiet easy and most pilots managed 10 mins. The preliminary rounds finished around 12.30am and after a short break 6 pilots went to the 3 round fly off.

MMany thought the fly off would be easy at that time of day as the previous rounds were very easy but conditions had changed. The first slot of the fly off saw a mixture of very fast launches and some pilots opting for more height. JoJo and Eser Kismi chose quick launches and managed to find a low thermal that was too weak to gain enough height with the distance down wind and they both landed out. They quickly re-launched the second model but with other pilots flying the slot out this put them in a difficult position from the start. The second and third slots were also difficult and not all the pilots managed to do 10 mins. It was a very exciting fly off that tested the pilots and very entertaining for spectators. Photos by Nick Kidd here